Special Collections relating to Sir Edmund Barton and Lady Jean Barton in the National Library of Australia

National Library of Australia

Manuscript Section

National Library of Australia

Parkes, ACT 2600

Phone: +61 2 6262 1250

Fax: +61 2 6262 1516

Email: manuscripts@nla.gov.au

URL: http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/

Date completed:

15 October 2002

This guide was created in association with the National Archives of Australia for the Australia's Prime Ministers website.

Scope and Content

The Library holds the personal papers of Sir Edmund Barton (MS 51),which have been digitised and are available online. In addition, the Library holds a few other Barton collections which
were received from various sources as well as other manuscript collections (including microfilm copies) which contain letters
or other materials relating to Barton. In this listing, the main collection is listed first, followed by the other sources
relating to Sir Edmund Barton (in alphabetical order) and papers relating to Lady Jean Barton.

Papers relating to Sir Edmund Barton

The collection consists of correspondence, personal papers, press cuttings, photographs and papers relating to the Federation
campaign and the first Parliament of the Commonwealth. The correspondence from 1827 to 1896 relates mainly to the business
and family affairs of William Barton, and to Edmund's early legal and political work. Correspondence 1898-1905 concerns the
Federation campaign, the London conference 1900 and Barton's Prime Ministership, 1901-1903. Correspondence 1906-1920 relates
mainly to Barton's family and to his work in the High Court. Correspondents include Alfred Deakin, Lord Forrest, Lord Hopetoun,
Joseph Chamberlain, Sir Samuel Griffith, Sir William Lyne, Sir Henry Parkes, Lord Tennyson, Lord Jersey, George W.E. Russell,
and Sir George Reid. There are also press cuttings relating to the Hastings-Macleay election, 1898, and to the activities
of the Federation delegates in London, 1900; Commonwealth Constitution material, 1885-1901, some of it annotated in Barton's
hand; family documents; commissions and honours. This collection is digitised.

Australasian Federation League of New South Wales. Records, 1871-1909.
Catalogue Record: MS 47

These papers were assembled by Edward Dowling, the secretary of the Australasian Federation League of New South Wales. The
League was formed by Barton in 1893, and items in this collection include correspondence with Alfred Deakin and Sir George
Reid (1893-1909); and material relating to the People's Federal Convention, Bathurst in 1896, which Barton attended.

This collection consists of 28 pages of typescript copies of correspondence between Barton and Parkes (1887-1893); 69 pages
of papers collected by John Reynolds (1900-1947) for his biography, 'Edmund Barton' (typescript and manuscript); and a typescript
Bill for the Federation of the Australian Colonies.

This small collection includes a 'National Ode' dedicated to Barton by H. A. Stuart and a letter to the Prime Minister asking
for approval of an enclosed 'National Song of Federated Australia' (May-June 1901).

Sir Thomas Bavin was the private secretary to Barton and Deakin and later became the NSW Premier. His papers from 1898 to
1942 include a long series of letters by both men and notes for speeches by Barton (1901-1903). Bavin's papers are an important source of information about Australian politics and law between 1900 and 1920, as well
as documenting his close association with the first two Prime Ministers of Australia.

Campbell-Jones was the parliamentary correspondent of the Melbourne Argus. 'The Cabinet of Captains: The romance of Australia's first Federal Parliament' contains his recollections of the Barton
Ministry, the establishment of Commonwealth Parliament in 1901 and the first parliamentarians, including detailed accounts
of Barton, Deakin, Reid, Cook, Watson, Fisher and Hughes.

Joseph Chamberlain was the British Secretary of State for the Colonies (1895-1903). His correspondence from 1894 to 1914
includes reference to Federation in Australia, imperial conferences, colonial trade and defence. Correspondents include Edmund
Barton and Alfred Deakin. Filmed by the Australian Joint Copying Project from originals held in the University of Birmingham
Library, England.

Crisp was an academic, biographer of Ben Chifley and author of numerous publications on federation and Australian politics.
The bulk of the collection consists of subject files on a wide range of topics compiled mainly from newspaper cuttings and
journal articles. There are files on all Australian prime ministers from Sir Edmund Barton to Malcolm Fraser.

Alfred Deakin, a leading Federation figure with Barton, was Australia's first Attorney-General 1901, and Prime Minister three
times during the early part of the twentieth century (1903-1904,1905-1908 and 1909-1910). His papers, dating from 1804-1973
(bulk dates 1880-1919), include diaries, notebooks, cuttings, programs, manuscripts, photographs and correspondence, including
extensive correspondence with Barton (1894-1916).

J. G. Drake was a journalist,federal politician and Minister. His papers include letters received from Barton, Alfred Deakin
and George Reid (1875-1913), and a copy of a memorandum, dated 3 July 1905, exchanged between the Prime Minister, George Reid,
and the Governor-General, Lord Northcote.

Much of this collection document Fisher's political career, especially his three terms as Australia's Prime Minister and his
work as High Commissioner in London (1915-1921). Includes two letters of Barton, 1913-1915.

Groom was a Federal politician (1901-1929, 1931-1936), Speaker of the House of Representatives (1926-1929) and a Minister
in several Governments. This collection contains newspaper clippings, the bulk of which date from 1898 to 1901, about Federation
and federal politics. It contains many articles about Barton, including his obituaries.

These papers include correspondence with Barton, Alfred Deakin, Sir John Forrest, King O'Malley and Joseph Cook from c1880
to 1936. A detailed descriptive list is available. Additional material related to this collection is contained in MS 1135.

The 7th Earl of Hopetoun (John Adrian Louis Hope) was Australia's first Governor-General (1901-1903). Principal correspondents
(1881-1904) include Barton and Deakin. Letters from Barton to Hopetoun deal with the Conciliation and Arbitration Bill, the
Pacific Islanders' Bill and the Anglo-Japanese Treaty. Microfilmed by the Australian Joint Copying Project from original
held at Hopetoun House, Scotland.

Atlee Hunt was one of the first senior federal public servants. He was Edmund Barton's private secretary (1901) and became
the Secretary of the Department of External Affairs (1901-1917) and Secretary to the Department of Home and Territories (1917-1921).
The papers in this collection consist chiefly of correspondence about Australia's administrative activities and interests
in Britain, the Pacific Islands, Papua and the Northern Territory. Main correspondents include both Barton and Deakin. Series
38 and 39 include letters from Barton 1901-1904. A letter from Barton (25 September 1903) thanks Hunt and his staff for their
hard work and loyalty, along with some remarks on the role of civil servants.

Sir Isaac Isaacs was a Federation Convention delegate, the Federal Attorney-General (1905-1906), a High Court judge and then
Chief Justice (1930), and the Governor-General (1931-1936). The papers from 1875 to 1966 include copies of correspondence
between Barton and Sir Samuel Griffith, who was appointed first Chief Justice in 1903.

Politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, Premier and Attorney General (1902-1904). This is a
collection of letters, including two from Barton (1898-1899), relating broadly to Federation.

These papers include a letter (dated 20 July 1897) to Barton from John Douglas, Government Resident on Thursday Island and
Acting Special Commissioner for the Protectorate of Southern New Guinea commenting on the Federation Convention and its implications.

Lyne was Premier of New South Wales (1899-1901) and a Federal parliamentarian and Minister. Letters and telegrams relating
to the attempt of Lyne, the NSW Premier, to form a Federal administration, December 1900. The material includes references
to Barton, Deakin and Reid.

Jean Maughan was Barton's daughter. These papers provide relatively little information about Barton's personal life or his
family. They include a letter on Barton's aspirations for the Federation, newspaper cuttings on his death, copies of lists
of Barton papers held by individuals and repositories, and granddaughter Ann Macintosh' papers (1975-1990) on Barton.

Reid was the NSW Premier between 1894 and 1899. He was an important figure in Australian Federation, becoming a member of
the House of Representatives, 1901-1908; Prime Minister, 1904-1905; and Australian High Commissioner in London, 1909-1916.
Reid's papers include correspondence with Barton and references to Deakin and other political figures.

Sir Josiah Symon was a Federal Convention delegate, Senator and Federal Attorney-General (1904-1905). The papers in this
collection cover every phase of Symon's life, including his involvement in Federation, federal conventions and the Senate,
and include correspondence with Edmund Barton (1894-1904), Joseph Cook, Alfred Deakin and George Reid.

Papers relating to Lady Jean Barton

Jean Maughan, the eldest daughter of Sir Edmund and Lady Barton, married David Maughan, a Sydney barrister, in 1909. The
collection includes Lady Barton's will, a letter to Lady Barton from later Prime Minister J. Scullin, and a catalogue of auctioned
Barton family items.